Sometimes, no matter who you are and what you do, you need to realize that deep down you’re just a husband and father whose job it is to take out the trash.
NASCAR driver and UCF alum Aric Almirola started reaching that realization back in 2018 after he’d just made a last-lap pass to win a huge race in Talladega and advance into the next round of playoffs.
“It was an incredible day and an awesome feeling,” recalled Almirola, a Tampa, Fla., native who will be behind the wheel of his No. 10 Ford Mustang on Sunday for what is likely his final Daytona 500. “Everything was as cool as it could possibly be. I remember a really special night with the kids and seeing the joy and excitement on their faces. So [wife] Janice and I tuck in the kids, kiss them good night and as I walked downstairs, I was like, ‘Ah, it’s Sunday night. The garbage has to go out.’
“And that’s when it hit me like a ton of bricks,” Almirola continued. “That’s when I realized that being a race car driver doesn’t define me. I’d just won the biggest race of my career ... but I’m still the guy who takes the garbage and recycling out to the road.”
That was the moment of truth when Almirola, like many career-driven people in all walks of life, began to discover he was getting more joy and contentment with the simple pleasures of everyday home life than he was at the office — even if the office is the front seat of a race car going 200 mph with your hair on fire.
And so this is essentially why Almirola has decided to call it quits after this season. At the young age of 37, he is retiring from NASCAR to spend more time with Urban Meyer’s family.
Actually, he’s retiring to spend more time with his own family, but Urban Meyer has made the phrase “retiring to spend more time with my family” a punchline. The former University of Florida, Ohio State and Jacksonville Jaguars coach has retired two different times only to get back into coaching at the first opportunity. He left UF to “spend more time with my family” only to take a job as an ESPN analyst a few weeks later and then accepted a job at Ohio State just 11 months after leaving Florida.
Unlike Meyer, Almirola seems as genuine and authentic as any athlete or coach has ever been about finding happiness and harmony at home. The need for speed has given way to the emotion of devotion. Aric and Janice have two children — a son, Alex, and a daughter, Abby, who will be 10 and 9 years old by the end of this season.
“I’m going to have a short window with them while they still think Dad is cool,” Almirola said during his retirement announcement. “I want to be there for them and to be a part of the things they’re interested in. Before we know it, they’re going to have car keys and they’re going to be running off with their friends, doing the same things I did when I was 16 or 17.
“I’ve prayed about it. Janice and I have spent many nights lying in bed talking about it. And the questions are the same as anybody else would have: ‘Can I afford it?’ And the answer I kept coming up with was, ‘I can’t afford not to.’ "
While Almirola won’t go down as one of the NASCAR’s all-time great drivers, he will go down as one of the sport’s all-time good guys. He is the son and grandson of Cuban immigrants who came to America in 1966 with literally nothing but the clothes on their backs.
Almirola grew up racing go-carts but briefly decided to take a more traditional career path when he enrolled at UCF to study mechanical engineering. However, when Joe Gibbs Racing started a diversity initiative to assist minorities to get into racing, Almirola qualified for the program as a Cuban-American.
He dropped out of UCF and survived on hot dogs and cheese sandwiches to save money while diligently working his way through NASCAR’s ranks before becoming a full-time Cup Series driver in 2012. Since then, he’s recorded three wins, 26 top-5 finishes and 84 top-10 finishes.
And now, as he embarks on his final Daytona 500 as a full-time driver, Almirola is trying to enjoy every moment of the Great American Goodbye.
“I want to take it all in,” he said. “Embrace it. ... I’m excited to race my heart out this season. And I am pumped to go out on a high note, but I know the results and trophies are not going to change my life at this point.
“What is going to change my life is a quality relationship with my wife and kids. That stuff will last a long, long time. The trophies and accomplishments, they collect dust. I’ve done this long enough. I’m ready to be home.”
Charge on, Aric Almirola.
Home is waiting for you.
A loving wife.
Adorable kids.
And a beautifully full trash can.
